[Sandy Nelson]

Sorry to dissapoint but this is not a post on Fetishes involving the disabled

With a good few of you expressing a desire to build your own rod, or in the process even. I thought given it is crappy weather again.
And i've had enough of cane for a few days, i'd attempt to put a guide together for whipping rod rings.

So here we go, i have used contrasting colours so it is easier to see what is going on

Step 1. File the edges of the ring so there is a nice bevelled edge and no sharp bits.



Step 2. Heat the foot of the ring with a lighter , do not burn your fingers



Step 3. Touch the hot foot on the tip of a stick of hot melt glue, a very quick wipe is enough.



Step 4. Position the ring in the correct plane on the blank, you should have enough time to get the ring into the right spot, if not flash it with the lighter to soften the glue and do it again.



Step 5. Trap the end of the thread under the first couple of turns, like tying a fly. try to do this approx 4-5 turns from the point of the foot.



Step 6. Slowly wrap forward with touching turns. I turn the blank , holding the thread at an angle so it butts against the last wrap.



Step 7. If a small gap opens up, then gently push the thread down using a finger nail, just enough to close the gap.



Step 8. Make sure it is even all the way round the blank.



Step 9. Continue with touching turns



Step 10. Again if any gaps open up, push them down with the nail. Continue up to about 5-6 turns short of the base of the ring



Step 11. Catch in a loop of thread, if possible use a contrasting colour it makes it easier to pick out if it snaps.



Step 12. Make sure the loop is opposite the ring



Step 13. Wrap approx 6-7 times right up to the base of the ring, without overlapping, this time there is no need to push the thread down, leave the gap



Step 14. Leave a nice long tag when you cut the thread and keep it tight.



Step 15. use your finger to hold the wraps tight and put the tag end through the loop.



Step 16. Carefully pull the loop whilst still holding the wraps tight, till the tag comes through the wrapping



Step 17. Pull the tag all the way through, keeping the wrap tight with the finger



Step 18. Hold the sharp scalpal blade flat against the wrapping, and hold the tag tight



Step 19. Keeping the blade flat slice the tag end at the exit point



Step 20. If you held it tight the thread should recoil slightly back under the wrap



Step 21. With your Nail again push the thread to close the gap



Step 22. The wrapping should look something like this



Step 23. Burnish the whipping with either a tool or the back of your nail, this smoothes the thread out and fills any micro gaps still remaining



Step 24. Very carefully flash the wrapping with a lighter to "Fuzz burn" any tiny fibres sticking up, this is a very quick flash as the thread will melt and ruin the wrap, if you take to long.



Step 25. The finished wrap, no lumps, bumps or gaps, ready for a couple of thin coats of epoxy

.

Hope this gives a decent idea of whats involved, with a standard snake, i tape one leg and whip the other, then reverse the blank and do the other leg

Sandy

[Cameron deBoth]

thats great Sandy. Ive always had an interest in building my own rod. Just never had the space, tools or knowledge. One day maybe. Hope you will extend this onto other areas of rod building.

[Rob Brownfield]

Will add to sandys excellent post...

If using single leg guides on a heavier rod, such as a 9 or 10 weight, i continue past the foot and add 5 wraps infront of the eye. When epoxied this gives a perfect "bump stop" to stope the ring working loose with the heavier lines of shooting heads.

If using single leg spinning guides (on a spinning rod of course ) i use a locking whip that goes around the leg then the blank and repeats 3 times. This adds even more security.

Great post Sandy!!

[Iain Goolager]

Great stuff Sandy,

I'd easily give that a go - one thing tho' when you wrap the 6-7 turns over the loop of thread (used to pull through & finish the final 'tag') do you wrap these slightly looser?

Are you going to do a feature on the epoxying? that's the bit I'm concerned to tackle.

ALSO when I bought my stonefly fly drier today I was told it was also a rod turner? how does that work? Do you lay one end in a roller type support and have an attachment for the drier hub?

This is quite interesting.

Iain

[stickleback]

Excellent step by step  .  I like the tip about tacking the guides in place with a hint of hot melt glue - I wish I'd known that before I did my rod build   

Are you going to do a feature on the epoxying? that's the bit I'm concerned to tackle.

I too would be very interested in the epoxying - I wasn't clear on where to stop so I went a few mm's past under the guide eye and tried to plug the gap so water wouldn't flow down the blank and under the guide, if that makes sense.

Cheers

Cammy

[Sandy Nelson]

Great stuff Sandy,

I'd easily give that a go - one thing tho' when you wrap the 6-7 turns over the loop of thread (used to pull through & finish the final 'tag') do you wrap these slightly looser?

Are you going to do a feature on the epoxying? that's the bit I'm concerned to tackle.

ALSO when I bought my stonefly fly drier today I was told it was also a rod turner? how does that work? Do you lay one end in a roller type support and have an attachment for the drier hub?

This is quite interesting.

Iain

The 6-7 turns are just as tight as the rest

Your stonefly turner should have come with a chuck and a wire support, for turning rods. I used to use 4 of them. Only thing to know is they move when turning so you need to put a couple of books on the turner and on the support, or use tape or blu tak to stop them from migrating across the table

We have the next batch of blanks arriving next week so i promise this time i'll get one of the builds photographed and i'll do a wee bit for here for the epoxying if thats what people want to see. Dont know if i could do it on video? might be interesting to try

Sandy

[Bronzebommer]

Some good tips here, when whipping two leg guides I had always taped one leg in place and whipped the other. The idea of using hot melt glue to secure the leg is great. 

[Rob Brownfield]

I do things a little different. 

Basics are the same but I start my whipping much closer to the foot, perhaps only 3 turns before the thread starts to climb up the foot. The reason for this is that as epoxy gets old, it starts to turn brittle. As the rod flex's there is a "hinge" effect caused by the foot of the ring as it does not flex as much as the rod. This can set up a stress fracture in the epoxy and cause a crack to appear at the start of the foot. The more epoxy you have below the foot, the more of a chance this happens. Having said that, we are talking years down the line, and it is much more noticable on soft action rods.

The other thing I do different is that I whip upto the eye as far as it will go, add the loop to pull through (4lb nylon) and then add 5 turns of thread AFTER the ring. I then pull through as normal. I then pack the thread back nice and neat. When I add the epoxy, this thread on the other side of the ring acts as an anchor for the epoxy, helping to seal the void under the foot and locking the ring in place.

And thats what I like about custom built rods...you get individual items with the builders little touches. Some of the more famours US builders can pick up each others rods and tell who built it just by the way the rod is finished. No rights or wrongs, just preferred methods.